Thursday, October 30, 2014

After our visit to the chicken farm, it was time to put the Anxin Chicken to the test at Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice's outlet at Joo Chiat.

Tian Tian has been using Toh Thye San Farm's regular broiler chicken for some time now and has a great run of success with it. Currently, they do not carry Anxin chicken as it is not commercially viable.

For the past 2 years, Tian Tian has been serving their "ultimate" version of their chicken rice using Anxin Chicken at the Ultimate Hawker Fest and it had been very well received.

We wanted to have a taste for ourselves, and thus Miss Tam Chiak, Sgfoodonfoot and myself were graciously hosted by the owners of Tian Tian, Madam Foo and her daughter Miss Loi to sample both the regular chicken that they serve, as well as the Anxin Chicken.

Both chickens were cooked in exactly the same manner and we requested to have it first without any seasoning of soya sauce and sesame. This was to ensure that we could make out the natural flavours and textures of the two different chickens.

Anxin Chicken

The verdict? From the visual aspect, it was quite clear the the Anxin Chicken looked much larger and comparatively larger in proportion as well. Kenny from Toh Thye San Farm explained that the chickens were the same weight, but the Anxin chicken was somehow more elongated in length.

One bite into it and I was totally sold on the Anxin Chicken. It had a firmer bite, but yet it was not dry nor fibrous. It almost had a nice bouncy bite to it and despite the firmer texture, it was not hard to chew at all.

As for the flavour, it had a more distinct chicken flavour when compared to the regular broiler variant. It almost had a natural sweetness to the flesh and even without the seasoning, the simple salt flavoured meat had a more apparent chicken flavour to it. It was also more tasty.

With the natural goodness of the steamed chicken, it is clear why natural breeding and no artificial injections is so crucial to producing a better tasting chicken. The more pronounced meat flavours and subtle sweetness are so much more superior to regular broiler chicken that has been accelerated in its growth process.

If only I can have this type of chicken every time I have my chicken rice. Sigh.

Alex, Kenny, Ms Loi and Mdm Foo

Madam Foo, Ms Loi from Tian Tian and Alex and Kenny from Toh Thye San will again be featured at this year's Ultimate Hawker Fest 2014 at Suntec Expo Halls 401 and 402 on the 22 Nov 2014, from 11am to 5pm.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Tian Tian and Toh Thye San for showing us the chicken farm from my previous post as well as hosting us to a wonderful and eye opening sampling for the Anxin Chicken. It was, indeed, a very enlightening 2 days for me.

For more on UHF 2014, please visit Tian Tian and other great hawker stalls at https://www.ultimatehawkerfest.sg or call 6377 0122. The coupons can be purchased at the website as well.